“With Gmail add-ons, your inbox can contextually surface your go-to app based on messages you receive to help you get things done faster,” Gmail Product Manager Aakash Sahney wrote in a blog post.
At launch, there are 10 enterprise-focused add-ons available that can help you connect with customers, track projects, handle invoicing, and more — right from your inbox. They include Asana, Dialpad, Hire, Intuit QuickBooks Invoicing, ProsperWorks, RingCentral, Smartsheet, Streak, Trello, and Wrike. Google said a DocuSign add-on is also coming soon.
To find and install Gmail add-ons, head over to the G Suite Marketplace, or click the settings icon on the top-right corner of your inbox and select “Get add-ons.”
Add-ons work the same across the web and Android, meaning you’ll just need to install them once to access them on multiple devices. Google said support for iOS is “coming soon.”
Original Story (3/10): Google has been giving businesses new tools to communicate, but the Web giant says email is still a lot of people’s “central command” center at work. So, Google is working to make your inbox more productive with the introduction of add-ons for Gmail.
n the future, you’ll be able to do things like generate and send invoices via Intuit QuickBooks, check CRM details with PropserWorks, and look up contacts in Salesforce — all without ever leaving Gmail, according to a Thursday blog post from Gmail Product Manager Thijs van As.
“Say a Gmail user receives an email from a sales lead, and wants to add that contact to her CRM solution,” van As wrote. “With Gmail Add-ons, she can enter the contact’s required info and look up their account in that CRM system without leaving Gmail. No more tabbing, copying and pasting or sifting between mobile apps in order to get things done.”
Don’t get too excited, because you can’t get any of these add-ons just yet. Google has been working with a few developers like Intuit QuickBooks, PropserWorks and Salesforce to show what Gmail add-ons are capable of. Now, it’s relying on other developers to build Gmail add-ons for their apps.
The Web giant expects to start letting users browse and install add-ons via the G Suite Marketplace later this year.
In the meantime, developers who want to get in on the action can sign up for Google’s Developer Preview. Google said it plans to send invitations for early developer access soon.
The good news for developers is that this doesn’t seem like a ton of work. Google said you’ll only have to build your integration once, and it will run across Gmail on the Web, Android, and iOS. Users will only have to install it once, and it will show up in Gmail across their devices.